Maximising opportunities for people through creative arts and media

Gooboo’s – Where have we been?

A lot has been happening with The Ghostbuskers over the last few weeks, as many of you may already know The Ghostbuskers had the pleasure of being invited to the Eden Project in May of this year. Well that was to be just one of the many jaw dropping events that we would perform at.

Electric Mountain

On Saturday 24th June, the Ghostbuskers were invited to perform at ‘Electric Mountain’ in Llanberis, alongside Mike Peters and his wife Jules, Mike, who is a member of the band ‘The Alarm’ has survived cancer three times, with the support of his wife Jules who is also fighting cancer they aim to spread their message of hope and strength to the community , Mike and Jules regularly host events in which they encourage people to donate to the ‘Love, Hope and Strength’ foundation, which was created by them.

One of their yearly events happens in Llanberis, Mike, Jules and supporters from all across the area get together and venture up Snowdon.

Whatever the weather, the guitars and hiking gear come out as songs of hope and praise are sang for those who may not be able to sing it themselves. After a tough but rewarding walk the ‘Snowdon Rocks’ concert was to be held in the middle of Llanberis that evening, where Mike along with other bands would perform for the crowds.

We arrived at the venue at nine in the morning, ready to perform we made our way to the first of the two sets that we would be performing at Llanberis, we were stationed right above the café, as all the customers below enjoyed their morning coffee and cream cake they also enjoyed an added experience; a free show.

It really was a privilege for all the Ghostbuskers to be standing before 600 participants about to perform alongside Mike Peters, we started playing as a sea of smiling faces stared back at us. We entertained the crowd by playing a song that was written personally by Mike, Love, Hope and Strength, as much as we tried we couldn’t quite steal the limelight from Mike as the audience sang along with him as he shredded his guitar.

As evening fell those who weren’t aching from walking the treacherous paths of Snowdon all gathered in Llanberis for the reward of watching Mike perform at Snowdon Rocks, the festival was packed with participants and supporters of all ages (and species as some brought their dogs), in fact the turnout was so great that people had to race to get a good view.

As a member of The Ghostbuskers I think I speak for everyone when I say that it was a privilege to perform alongside Mike Peters for members of a supportive community. Mike and Jules are a true example of how determination and strength can help someone overcome the battles they are facing.

Thanks to Electric Mountain for providing a venue for Ghostbuskers to perform. Thanks to Kirsty Thompson at Blue Skies for providing tickets for us to attend Snowdon Rocks and of course a Massive thank you to Mike, Jules and their team for raising money for their By Your Side Appeal.

Venue Cymru

On Tuesday 27th June Ghostbuskers had the opportunity to perform at Venue Cymru as part of their Nationwide Social Services wellbeing event, as well as our performance there were various other stalls that were set up in the arena, many stalls were designated to assist and other advice on services for social wellbeing available nationwide.

The crowd was a little smaller due to train disruptions but that didn’t stop us from singing our hearts out, in fact for added irony that first song we played was Folsom Prison Blues (a song about trains!!). A song stand was set up at the front of the stage and one by one we were recruiting more and more people to join in.

The agreement was that our band would only be playing once throughout the event, however at the last-minute plans were altered and we were asked to do an encore and by this time we were able to get even more people rocking and jamming along with us.

It was a pleasure to be asked to perform for such a wide variety of professions, and we would like to extend our gratitude to: the organisers of the Social services wellbeing event for allowing us to be able to perform for you.

Galeri – Caernarfon

The fluorescent lights really added a retro and creative look to the inside of the building, graffiti and artwork lined the walls of the main hall, boxes were set out in the performance area that would act as seats for the audience (very creative and artsy). We had arrived and were ready to perform for the ‘Hijinx Unity Festival’

We arrived with a little time to spare before we were to perform, this was a perfect opportunity for us to take a tour, with a camera aimed and ready I headed for the back door, outside I stumbled across a harbour, filled with boats it was the perfect scene to sit next to whilst you enjoyed a steaming cup of coffee from the indoor café.

We already had our song list laid out and we were ready to rock, people sang along through silenced lips while others simply clapped enthusiastically at the end of each song. On the veranda, there were people recording our performances, this was a great sight because we could all feel the satisfaction of knowing that they wanted to share the joyous experience we gave with others.

The set lasted for 45 minutes, after which there was a meal to be had in the back of the building, whilst only some of The Ghostbuskers wanted to stay on for the meal it ended up with people who originally said no turning round to join us.

Before we knew it we each enjoying an Indian style meal whilst sitting round a table chatting and having a grand time, the atmosphere was exactly as it should be, a happy family gathered together for a home cooked meal. A Ghostbusker family.

A special thanks to Galeri in Caernarfon and Hijinx for organising the event and a thank you to everyone who came along to support us.

TAPE Community Arts Centre

Tuesday 4th 2017 was our last performance before our month-long breather, we were to be playing to a group of Adult Learners who had organised to hold their Adult Learners Award ceremony at the TAPE centre, our performance was short but we had enough time for us to show them what we were all about. People were cheering and waving their arms back and forth in the air (no lighters thought).

Fifteen minutes later and they were back to their ceremony, but as I said before, enough time was allowed for us to show them our style.

We would like to thank Emily Highcock for booking Ghostbuskers to perform for you and your peers.

That’s everything that’s been going on in the world of the Gooboos for now, The Ghostbuskers will be taking a short break till September, but will be up and rocking again shortly. Thank you to everyone who supports what we do, we couldn’t be where we are now without you!